FBI: 'Grandpa Bandit' now tied to 21 bank robberies, including one in Syracuse

Syracuse policeThis surveillance photo from Solvay Bank in Syracuse shows a man the FBI believes is the "Grandpa Bandit" bank robber. He's believed to have robbed nine banks around the United States.
Syracuse, NY -- The FBI says an older man caught on surveillance cameras during a Syracuse bank robbery last September is linked to 20 other bank robberies over the last two years.

The man is being called the “Grandpa Bandit” because, well, he looks like somebody’s grandfather. The balding, bespectacled man, who is believed to be 50 to 60 years old, held up the Solvay Bank branch at the State Tower Building on Sept. 22 and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The FBI announced plans Tuesday to put images of Grandpa Bandit’s face up on digital billboards in several states in an effort to identify him.

FBI agents late last year said he was involved in as many as seven bank robberies. Now agents are saying he robbed 21 banks in 12 states since Jan. 16, 2009.

FBIThe "Grandpa Bandit" is seen at an Atlanta bank robbery.
The latest bank robbery credited to the unknown older man was May 18 in St. Louis County, Mo., according to the Associated Press.

The suspected robber began his crime spree with a robbery in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 16, 2009, the FBI said. The agency believes he has struck three times in Atlanta and twice in Mobile. Officials say he has robbed four banks overall in Alabama, four in Georgia, three in Texas, two in Arkansas and one each in the other states.

Sometimes, the man claims to be armed. Other times, such as in the St. Louis County robbery, he doesn’t show or imply a weapon. Agents say his holdups are calm and deliberate, apparently aimed at not attracting attention to himself. He tends to wear nondescript clothing such as a ballcap and a polo-type shirt.

In the St. Louis County robbery, the bandit walked into the bank late in the afternoon, approached a teller and pulled a holdup note from his black billfold.

At the Solvay Bank branch, the bandit was wearing a navy blue jacket and gold watch in a photograph taken by a security camera. No weapon was displayed and no one was injured during that holdup.

Though the man has been dubbed the “Granddad Bandit,” not much information is known about him including if he has grandchildren. The FBI typically assigns a name to serial bank robbers, in this case the “Granddad Bandit,” to help other law enforcement officers and the public have a reference point when talking about a specific criminal, agents said.

Lamar Outdoor Advertising will have the man’s picture up on 25 billboards in Missouri, as well as billboards in other states where robberies occurred.

This list of locations where banks have been allegedly robbed by the man they’re calling the “Granddad Bandit” was provided by the FBI to The Associated Press: